GAZ-59037

The GAZ-59037 is a civilian amphibious cargo carrier built by the Arzamas Machine-Building Plant. It was one of the first civil versions of the BTR-80 armoured personnel carrier, developed by Gorky and Arzamas engineers around the turn of the 1980s and 1990s. It is intended for remote, roadless areas, supporting oil exploration, pipelines and power lines, construction, and search and rescue.

Design

The GAZ-59037 keeps the BTR-80's driveline: eight driven wheels with independent suspension, regulated tyre pressure, 475 mm ground clearance and a self-recovery winch. The armoured troop compartment is replaced by a large sealed cargo platform with drop sides, which takes up to 5 tonnes and can be covered with a tarpaulin. The hull is watertight and displaces enough water to float, and a waterjet drives it afloat. A 260 hp KAMAZ-7403 diesel gives 80 km/h on roads and 9 km/h in water, with a 600 km range. Full weight is 14 tonnes, and it measures 7.6 x 2.9 m. It has a crew of two.

Variants

The GAZ-59037A was built as a passenger "bus". The GAZ-5903V Vetluga is a fire-fighting version with a 22-barrel impulse system that fires extinguishing powder at fires 50-300 m away, intended for industrial sites at risk of explosion. It weighs 14.55 tonnes and is 7.8 m long. The GAZ-5903G can also run on railway lines, using hydraulically lowered rail wheels at up to 50 km/h, to repair overhead power lines. The GAZ-59038 crane vehicle and GAZ-59033 recovery vehicle have their own records.

Maker

The Arzamas plant in the Nizhny Novgorod region was approved in 1957 as a spare-parts works for the Gorky Automobile Plant (GAZ). It opened in 1972, started building armoured personnel carriers in 1980, and became part of the GAZ group in 1983.